toolonglegs wrote:No worries for blueberries for me ... few hundred grams a day in my smoothies ... although they are frozen.Hitting the magic numbers now on the scales after rides ... will not be long till I see the same waking up. Lightest I have been since placing in the Canberra 24hr back in 2000 .

As far as I know, frozen is good too. It only seems to be a problem with fruit is juiced. The good stuff is left in the juicer.

Watching these documentaries it is pretty easy to understand our current dramatic rise in obesity levels. One factor was an increase in agricultural food production in the 70's, leading to more abundant, cheaper food often filled with high fructose corn syrup (in the USA) or sugar (in the UK and Australia). The issue being both overconsumption and that sugar interferes with appetite and can lead to people eating more.

Another issue has been the fixation on fat as the cause of obesity and the prevalence of "low fat" foods where fat has been replaced with sugar... often with a higher calorie count per serve than the full fat equivalent but with the perception that it is "healthier", leading people to consume more.

Meanwhile, food manufacturers used advertising campaigns to promote the idea of snacking between meals. Snacking has become socially acceptable where before it was frowned upon. It reminds me of a trip to the movies where in the quiet parts of the film the sound of people grazing sounded like a paddock.

Because people were not already eating enough, cinemas, fast food chains and supermarkets decided to introduce supersizing, value meals, king-size snacks and multi-buy promotions. The issue here is that if people buy it they will eat it.

Meanwhile the food industry lobbied government health policy to target activity levels and not consumption as a solution to obesity.

More recently, the food industry has release a range of high calorie foods that are marketed as being more "healthy". One "healthy" lunch of a bottled smoothie, Pret “no bread sandwich with rocket and lentils” a granola yoghurt from “Eat” has more calories than a "junk" lunch of coca-cola, Big Mac and crispy creme doughnut. Yipes! Besides the salad, it all looked like junk food to me but apparently the average consumer thinks they can eat more of the "healthy" food because it is lower in calories.

There is also some controversy about food labelling and whether labelling foods with Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) or a traffic light system – red for high; amber for medium and green for low is more helpful for consumers to eat better food.

Another interesting development was height and weight charts for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company which define ideal body weights on the average for 25-year-olds in 1942 and updated in 1983. The American Government shaped its health policy according to these charts which focussed people's attention on weight rather than other indicators of health. From this, the diet industry thrived and more people than ever started dieting. Over the long term, "dieting" has proven a very ineffective way of reducing and maintaining body weight. In addition, there is not much evidence to support the idea that "losing weight" translates into long term health benefits. The business model of the diet industry is built around client failure. Client success would mean a death of the industry. Another factor is that yo-yo dieting actually makes people fatter.

At the same time, the exercise industry experienced rapid growth. We were told that exercise assists weight loss "eat less, exercise more" although repeated studies have failed to establish a link between exercise and weight loss in the long term.

It's ok if diet and exercise don't work for you though. Science has the answer in the form of bariatric surgery.

I haven't finished the entire series so I don't know if there are any "answers" as such but if you look at the causes of obesity then the solution should be to do the opposite:1) stop eating so much processed food2) if you do eat processed food, make sure it is low in added sugar3) control your portion size4) limit snacking5) don't "diet" then go back to "normal" eating6) exercise for the health benefits and not to "burn off" that chocolate bar you ate with lunch7) don't be sucked in by the hype that "healthy" processed food is good for you.

casual_cyclist wrote:I haven't finished the entire series so I don't know if there are any "answers" as such but if you look at the causes of obesity then the solution should be to do the opposite:1) stop eating so much processed food2) if you do eat processed food, make sure it is low in added sugar3) control your portion size4) limit snacking5) don't "diet" then go back to "normal" eating6) exercise for the health benefits and not to "burn off" that chocolate bar you ate with lunch7) don't be sucked in by the hype that "healthy" processed food is good for you.

or rather than list what not to do, list what TO DO!

1. eat primarily unprocessed whole foods (vegetables, grains, fruit). these are healthier for you.2. "portion size" is dependent on body size, age, and activity level, so make a study of this to determine your personally relevant portion size.3. snacking is dependent on lifestyle. if you work 12-16 hour days, snacking may be necessary to maintain concentration or energy levels. it is also dependent on the health of your pancreas and other metabolic processes, which, like joints and muscles, deteriorate with age. 4. if you want to lose weight you need to eat less energy than you expend.5. don't think exercise, think activity, the best being that which helps self and others.

casual_cyclist wrote:I haven't finished the entire series so I don't know if there are any "answers" as such but if you look at the causes of obesity then the solution should be to do the opposite:1) stop eating so much processed food2) if you do eat processed food, make sure it is low in added sugar3) control your portion size4) limit snacking5) don't "diet" then go back to "normal" eating6) exercise for the health benefits and not to "burn off" that chocolate bar you ate with lunch7) don't be sucked in by the hype that "healthy" processed food is good for you.

or rather than list what not to do, list what TO DO!

1. eat primarily unprocessed whole foods (vegetables, grains, fruit). these are healthier for you.2. "portion size" is dependent on body size, age, and activity level, so make a study of this to determine your personally relevant portion size.3. snacking is dependent on lifestyle. if you work 12-16 hour days, snacking may be necessary to maintain concentration or energy levels. it is also dependent on the health of your pancreas and other metabolic processes, which, like joints and muscles, deteriorate with age. 4. if you want to lose weight you need to eat less energy than you expend.5. don't think exercise, think activity, the best being that which helps self and others.

toolonglegs wrote:Eating healthy I am sure was expensive for you Twiz on your paleo diet ... meat is bloody expensive.

As mention previously repeatedly -"paleo like". Which just means I avoid processed foods where possible. Winter and a lack of cooking time has not been kind on that front, but on the digestive front I have been very lucky to get away with it.

There's paleo like and then there's paleo like... it doesn't have to be expensive.

I'm using cycling along with walking and a little bit of diet changes to lose weight, I've gone from 95.9 on 2 June to 87.9 last Sunday and I'm on my way to a target of 82 (I'm almost 6' tall). The goal was going to be 85 but I chucked in an extra 3kg just for fun.

I do at least 3.5km fast walking with the dogs each morning, 18km each weekday lunch time on the bike at an average 27-28km/h and I'm being a little bit sensible with food.

I am noticing physical changes in size, wearing business shirts that fit me around the neck which I haven't worn in months, and I need to buy two new pairs of suit pants because I've dropped considerable waist measurement.

I'll consider changes when the weight loss plateaus, but currently I'm dropping 0.8-1kg a week.

I was wearing a heart rate monitor on my first few lunch time cycling activities, but it started beeping early in the ride too often, so now I just consider any exercise good exercise, whether I'm doing cardio heart rate or fat burning heart rate. It's all better for me than sleeping in and sitting on my arse in the office at lunch time.

TonyMax wrote:I'm using cycling along with walking and a little bit of diet changes to lose weight, I've gone from 95.9 on 2 June to 87.9 last Sunday and I'm on my way to a target of 82 (I'm almost 6' tall). The goal was going to be 85 but I chucked in an extra 3kg just for fun.

That's great progress so far! If you keep up your sensible eating when you reach your goal weight, you should be able to maintain... unlike a lot of people.

TonyMax wrote:I do at least 3.5km fast walking with the dogs each morning, 18km each weekday lunch time on the bike at an average 27-28km/h and I'm being a little bit sensible with food.

Personally, I have found walking the best for weight loss.

TonyMax wrote:I am noticing physical changes in size, wearing business shirts that fit me around the neck which I haven't worn in months, and I need to buy two new pairs of suit pants because I've dropped considerable waist measurement.

Haha. Me too! The worst is being in between sizes. I either looked like a sack tied around the middle or pants way too tight. It has been costly to shrink but definitely worthwhile.

TonyMax wrote:I'll consider changes when the weight loss plateaus, but currently I'm dropping 0.8-1kg a week.

I had a big plateau when I accidentally dropped my food intake too low. I found out I actually had to eat more to continue losing weight. Anyway, sounds like you are on the right track, so stick with it and you should easily reach your goal.

victoriacyclist wrote:the Paleo diet can be good for weight loss but not good if your an endurance athlete, you wont have any energy and your body will store any fats you consume to try to survive in case of a famine

If the paleo diet was good for weight loss then Robb Wolfe's wife wouldnt have bigger arms than him. Loren Cordain would be rail thin and Sally Fallon would be doing bikini modelling on the side. All these 3 paleo diet authors are longterm paleos but all battle with their weight and post thin photos on their books but social media shots prove otherwise.

Dr Atkins died obese @258lbs and was the originator of the paleo diet. People love to hear good things about their bad habits and if you tell smokers that smoking is good, they will buy your book!

The leanest athletes in the world eat a high carb low fat diet.The fastest athletes in the world eat a high carb low fat diet.

Paleo primal diets sell cos so many people want to believe they can get lean and fast eating KFC as long as they don't eat the buns.

victoriacyclist wrote:the Paleo diet can be good for weight loss but not good if your an endurance athlete, you wont have any energy and your body will store any fats you consume to try to survive in case of a famine

fwiw "paleo" is such a poorly defined term, it's pretty useless as a tool to describe a diet in general discussion. if you take it to mean what it really should mean, ie a diet which avoids the consumption of processed foods, then i'm sure we can all agree that it's a good idea, such a good idea in fact that even our dear friend DR subscribes to it.

with that being said, paleo does not necessarily mean low carb. a paleo diet should certainly include an exercise appropriate amount of carbohydrates from sources like bananas, dates and other fruits, root vegetables, rice, etc.

durianrider wrote:If the paleo diet was good for weight loss then Robb Wolfe's wife wouldnt have bigger arms than him. Loren Cordain would be rail thin and Sally Fallon would be doing bikini modelling on the side. All these 3 paleo diet authors are longterm paleos but all battle with their weight and post thin photos on their books but social media shots prove otherwise.

Dr Atkins died obese @258lbs and was the originator of the paleo diet.

seriously, this line of argument has to stop. you use it every time, it's a false dichotomy and everyone's sick of it. based on this, because I once knew a vegan that died i should reject everything you say. fred hollows wore glasses so he should never have been allowed to cure anyone's cataracts. it's ridiculous, just stop it and bring something useful to the table (other than dates and bananas).

Who is online

About the Australian Cycling Forums

The largest cycling discussion forum in Australia for all things bike; from new riders to seasoned bike nuts, the Australian Cycling Forums are a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.